toca_british_usf2000_seriesfandomcom-20200213-history
Stenden/NHL Racing Team
History 2018 The 2018 running of the TOCA British USF2000 Championship was the inaugural running of the series. This meant that every team stood equal to each of their rivals. Everyone ran the same specs for their machines. The FIA even put forward a team to work on all of the cars run by independent drivers that year. The first event of the series had a lot of variables that were unknown to each driver, team and spectator to the series. No one knew who would prove to be the strongest of them all. Stenden/NHL Racing Team were not the team to show off in the opening round. After two 14th position finishes for team manager, Lesley Buurlage and a 5th position and a retirement for Joseph Wright, it looked as though this year would be a learning year for both team and driver ahead of 2019. However, at Croft, Joseph Wright put in a stellar performance around the large number of retirements and safety cars we saw through the weekend, taking 2nd and then their maiden win in the second race. Lesley Buurlage was still playing catch up finishing 15th in race one, and retiring from the second race. Onto Silverstone, and once again the team were back down the order. Race one saw two non-point finishes for the team, with Lesley Buurlage achieving 19th and Joseph Wright 23rd. Race two, however, saw Joseph Wright back into the points for 7th, but Lesley Buurlage was still unable to achieve any points, finishing in a lowly 18th. With just the final two races to go, Joseph Wright achieved yet another double podium, finishing 3rd and 1st, clinching the drivers and teams title in the final race. Lesley Buurlage did achieve a maiden pole position for the team but failed to finish in the points in race one, down in 21st position, before clinching a low number of points with a 13th position finish in race 2. Joseph Wright was able to win the championship by just 8 points ahead of Anders Jensen. The next driver thirty points behind. Lesley Buurlage struggled in the inaugural season, finishing in a lowly 26th position out of 30 championship contenders. Stenden/NHL Racing Team were able to win the championship by 17 points over Racers in Pyjamas 2, meaning that even without Lesley Buurlage's 9 points he contributed to the championship, Stenden/NHL Racing Team would have clinched the title on Joseph Wright's 97 points. 2019 2019 quickly became a series of domination for Stenden/NHL Racing Team. After winning the inaugural series in 2018, both Joseph Wright and Lesley Buurlage committed to the entire 2019 season, proving that the team were still the strongest in the championship. Joseph Wright won both races at Brands Hatch Indy, with Lesley Buurlage in 3rd and 6th. The domination for Joseph Wright continued into Croft, with a 2nd and 1st position in the two races. Lesley Buurlage, however, finished 9th and 17th. Even with two red flag races, the first of which allowed drivers to only score half points, Joseph Wright was showing once more how quick he was in the USF2000 machine. At Oulton Park, another 2nd and 1st position result for Joseph Wright, with Lesley Buurlage in 7th and 5th respectively. To Silverstone, and another victory in Race 1 for Joseph Wright. Even with a retirement in Race 2, Joseph Wright one the championship out of this event. Lesley Buurlage finished in last position in race one, but achieved his second podium of the season, with a third position in race two. At the final round of the season, Joseph Wright achieved his first ever pole position. He finished the first race in 9th, however, and retired the final round of the championship. Lesley Buurlage was one of nine drivers to see the black flag and be removed from the first race of the weekend, however, was able to win his first race at round 10. Joseph Wright won the drivers championship with 142.5 points, 57 points clear of teammate Lesley Buurlage. Because of the domination being displayed in 2019 by the two Stenden/NHL Racing Team, they once again won the Teams Cup, this year with 228 - 120.5 points clear of Racers in Pyjamas 2 who finished second. 2020 2020 was a battle of the ages for the Stenden/NHL Racing Team drivers, Joseph Wright and Lesley Buurlage culminating with just eight points between the two drivers in first and second position of the overall drivers championship, thirty-five points clear of third position driver, Matt Le Gallez. The season opened at Silverstone for the first time in the series. Lesley Buurlage was able to drive his car to victory lane by the conclusion of race one, with teammate and rival, Joseph Wright down in 10th position. In race two, the drivers swapped their positions on track, with Joseph Wright finishing in 2nd, and Lesley Buurlage down in 14th. Oulton Park saw Lesley Buurlage finish 2nd, just ahead of Joseph Wright who finished third in race one. However, with a retirement from Joseph Wright in the second race of the weekend, Lesley Buurlage took the lead of the championship after finishing the race in sixth. Onto Thruxton, for the first time in the series. A 9th and Retirement for Joseph Wright and two non points finishes in 25th position for Lesley Buurlage kept the Dutch driver in the lead of the championship fight. Spa-Francorchamps. The one and only time the series has left British soil. Joseph Wright was able to achieve pole position for the event, however, was unable to replicate this in the race with a 5th and 4th in the two races. Yet, he still finished ahead of title rival, Lesley Buurlage, taking the lead in the championship. Blackwood saw a retirement and 1st position for title leader Joseph Wright, however, an 11th and 3rd position result for Lesley Buurlage was bring the fight to less than 20 points into the final two rounds. Both saw retirements at the 11th round of the championship in Croft. Just one race to go. Lesley Buurlage was in the lead. He just need Joseph Wright to finish 5th and the title was his. But, unfortunately for the Dutch man, his second victory of the season was not enough, as Joseph Wright finished 2nd in the final round of the season. Joseph Wright won the drivers cup for a third year in a row with 229, just 8 points ahead of Lesley Buurlage. Joseph Wright was only able to score one victory in 2020, compared to the two saw by his teammate and two other drivers on the grid. With yet another strong championship result, Stenden/NHL Racing Team won their third teams cup with 450 points, a clear 181 points ahead of Atlantic Racing Rookie Monsters. 2021 2022 = Results Career Summary Complete Results |} Category:Team